Indicia panels



J1me 1959 B. v. KORRY INDICIA PANELS Filed March 22, 1956 INVENTOR. 502/5 1/. A OPRY A r TOE/V674? United States Patent INDICIA PANELS Boris V. Kerry, Seattle, Wash.

Application March 22, 1956, Serial No. 573,173

7 Claims. (Cl. 340-378) The present invention relates to an indicia panel such as for use on the instrument board of an aircraft, and is of the type bearing a plurality of indicia units which may be separately illuminated.

Because the instrument board of an aircraft frequently is quite complex and extensive, it is a principal object to provide an indicia panel which is quite compact while still being capable of incorporating a considerable number of indicia units.

Another object is to provide such an indicia panel which while compact will include indicia bearing units sufficiently large so that the indicia may be read easily when illuminated.

It is also an object to provide such an indicia panel which, while normally very reliable in operation, can be serviced easily, such as when an illuminating light bulb burns out.

In such an indicia panel having a large number of indicia units it is an object to make such units removable for purposes of servicing or replacement, while making their constructions sufficiently dilierent so that no unit can be replaced on the panel in an incorrect location.

Another object is to provide a basic panel and illuminating unit type of construction on which units can be mounted indicia of various types as may be desired. Moreover, whatever the nature or extent of the individual indicia on a unit, the entire area of the indicia will be illuminated to substantially the same degree.

These objects can be accomplished by using a jack panel on which indicia units to be illuminated can be mounted. Such a panel may incorporate two parallel rows of jacks in which the jacks are mounted in corresponding positions so that a series of indicia units each having two prongs can be mounted with one prong engaged in a jack of one row and the other prong engaged in the corre sponding jack of the other row. The jacks and prongs may have correlating interfitting tab and notch elements which are difierent for each indicia unit and its corresponding pair of jacks, so that a given unit can be mounted on the panel by only one particular pair of jacks.

Each indicia unit may include a block of light transmitting plastic material having a face strip opaque except in the portion constituting the indicia. The block may have in it one or more cavities for receiving light bulbs and conducting strips may be interengaged between the prongs serving as terminals and the light bulbs for the purpose of conducting electric current to them. Thus the light bulbs can be replaced in the indicia block when it has been removed from the jack panel.

A preferred type of construction incorporating these features is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a front elevation view of a portion of the jack panel with indicia units in place, parts being broken away.

Figure Z'is a transverse section through the jack panel with parts broken away.

Figure 3 is a front elevation view of thejack panel with all of theindicia units removed.

Patented June 9, 1959 Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view through the jack panel corresponding to Figure 2, but showing one indicia unit separated from the jack panel and the remaining units removed.

Figure 5 is a top perspective view of an indicia unit as viewed from the rear with portions broken away, and Figure 6 is a similar view showing parts in different positions. Figure 7 is a fragmentary top perspective view of a jack and an indicia unit prong partly engaged in the jack, the remainder of the indicia unit and jack panel being broken away.

A typical use of the indicia panel in an airplane instrument board is as a warning panel to warn the pilot or flight engineer immediately of the occurrence of trouble. The jack board portion 1 of the panel might, for example, be arranged with the two rows of jacks 2 and 3 vertical, and the indicia units 4 will then be arranged in a vertical row. The legends on the several indicia units would then designate the occurrence of dangerous situations, such as an excessive drop in oil pressure of an engine or engines, overheating of an engine, a power failure, reduction in the amount of fuel below a safe margin, etc. When a particular situation occurs the legend of the corresponding indicia unit will be illuminated.

The indicia units are removable from the jack board 1 and preferably can be removed simply by pulling them. It is preferred that each removable indicia unit carry its illuminating means in the form of one or more light bulbs 5. The indicia unit is illustrated best in Figures 2, 5 and 6, as including a block 6 of light transmitting plastic material such as methyl methacrylate, or other acrylic material. To accommodate the desired indicia it is preferable for the blocks to be rather elongated, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. For producing substantially uniform illumination of the indicia, therefore, it is preferred that at least two light bulbs be used. These are received in cavities 7 formed in the back of the block and of a size to receive a light globe 5 with only a small amount of side and end clearance.

To facilitate application of legends of dilferent types to the indicia blocks in their manufacture, it is preferred that the indicia-bearing face of the block be formed as a strip 8 separate from the block and secured to it. This strip can be made of transparent plastic materialsimilar to the material of the block. Its outer face, however, will be of nonreflecting opaque character, such as being covered with black paint except for the portions constituting the indicia. Such strips may be fabricated separately from the blocks, therefore, and simply bonded to the desired blocks in final assembly.

The indicia blocks are supported from the jack boards by prongs 9 projecting rearward from the indicia blocks and preferably two such prongs are provided on each indicia block to hold the block against rotation about either of the prongs. These prongs may be mounted on the blocks by having threaded ends screwed into tapped holes opening at the rear side of the indicia block body 6. One of these prongs may be located. between the bulb-receiving cavities 7, and the other prong may be located at the opposite side of such a cavity.

The prongs 9 in the construction shown serve the double function of supporting the indicia blocks and constituting electric terminals throughwhich electricity is conducted for illuminating the bulbs 5. The outer prong 9 of each indicia block may constitute a ground terminal. This prong has a diametral slot in its threaded end desig-' nated 9, in which is received one end of a conducting strip 10 incorporating loops at the openings of the bulbreceiving cavities 7 through which the bulbs 5 mayv be inserted and which loops contact the bulb bases. The strip 10 embraces an insulating sleeve 9" encircling the central prong so as to avoid an electrical connection with it.

The central prong 9 may provide an electrical connection to the base terminals of the bulbs through a retainer contact strip 11. This strip is pivotally mounted on the central prong to swing between a position in which its opposite ends engage the central terminals of the two bulbs as shown in Figure 5 and hold the light bulbs in their cavities and a position in which the opposite ends of the strip 11 are out of registry with the bases of the bulbs 5 and the cavities 7, so that the bulbs may easily be withdrawn from or inserted into the cavities. On the strip 11 is mounted a cup 12 having an internal diameter considerably greater than the external diameter of the prong 9. Encircling the prong and received within the cup is a compression spring 13 which reacts between the bottom of the cup or the strip 11 and a collar or boss 14 fixed on the prong. This spring, therefore, always urges the contact strip 11 toward the body 6 of the indicia block to press against light bulbs in the block cavities when it is swung to the position shown in Figure 5.

This type of indicia block construction enables a bulb 5 to be replaced very easily if it should burn out. The body 6 of the block may be formed with pull lugs 15 at opposite ends which can be gripped to pull the block from the jack board. To remove the bulbs 5 or either of them it is then merely necessary to swing the strip 11 from the position shown in Figure 5 to the position of Figure 6. The bases of the bulbs can be gripped easily because of the provision of notches in the base-encircling portions of the strip 10. A new bulb may then he slipped into either cavity 7 and the strip 11 swung back from the position of Figure 6 into the bulb-holding position of Figure 5. The spring 13 continually urges the contact strip into engagement with the central terminals of the light bulbs.

The jacks in the row 2 of the jack board 1 will receive the central prongs 9 of the indicia blocks, and the jacks of the row 3 will receive the outer prongs of the indicia blocks. The individual jacks, as shown best in Figure 4, include rings mounted in apertures in a jack base plate 16. The rings carry clamping split sleeves 17 in which the prongs 9 are fitted snugly when an indicia block is moved from the position shown in Figure 4 to the position shown in Figure 2. The prongs of the indicia block will then be held firmly by the split sleeves of the jacks to support the block.

Each of the indicia blocks will bear a different legend. Consequently, it is important that each block be inserted in a particular location on the jack panel so as to be energized by the proper circuit connected to the various jacks of the jack panel. All the jacks in the row 3 may be connected to a common circuit lead by a wire 18 connected to the terminal 19. As shown in Figure 4, this terminal is connected to one of the jacks, such as the central jack, in the row 3, and all the jacks are interconnected by a strip 20 engaged with their tubes 15. On the contrary, each of the jacks in row 2 has a separate electric terminal 21 connected to an appropriate circuit corresponding to the indicia to be illuminated on closing of such circuit.

Since each horizontal pair of jacks in the rows 2 and 3 is connected in a different circuit for the purpose of illuminating the indicia on a different particular indicia block, correlating means should be provided 'for correlating each indicia block with a particular pair of jacks. Such correlation can be facilitated by providing index numbers or letters 22 on the various indicia blocks arranged in the order in which the blocks are to be mounted on the jack panel. Additionally, or alternatively, correlating means may be provided of a nature which will enable any given indicia block to be installed properly at only one location on the jack panel. Such correlating means may incorporate interfitting members on the prongs 9 of each indicia unit and their cooperating jacks.

The correlating means may include a boss or collar 23 on the outer prong of each indicia block having a notch 24 at a particular location in its periphery. The jack intended to receive this prong has a tab 25 projecting inwardly beyond the inner periphery of the jack tube 15 in a circumferential position corresponding to the position of notch 24 circumferentially around the boss 23. Also, the tab 25 and the notch 24 will be related so that the notch will be able to pass the tab 25 if the tab and notch are in corresponding circumferential positions. Each of the jacks in row 2 will also have a tab projecting radially inward beyond the inner circumference of its tube 15 to be received in the notch 26 of cup 12 carried by the central prong of an indicia block mounted on the strip 11.

The notches 24 and 26 of the bosses 23 and cups 12 can be arranged circumferentially in diflierent patterns for each indicia block and the tabs 25 of the jack pair for the corresponding appropriate circuit connected to the jack panel 1 can be arranged similarly, so that when the prongs of an indicia block are inserted into the proper corresponding jacks of the jack panel the indicia block may be moved fully into its seated position as shown in Figure 2. To prevent a particular indicia block from being mounted on the wrong pair of jacks, the circumferential positions of the notches 24 and 26 for each indicia block in combination are different from the positions of such notches in combination for all other indicia blocks of the panel. Similarly, of course, as illustrated in Figure 3, the positions of the tabs 25 for each pair of jacks is difierent from the location of the tabs for any other pair of jacks. For that reason the prongs 9 of any selected indicia block can be received fully into only one pair of jacks on the jack panel. 1.

The particular pattern of tabs 25 on the jack panel provides a displacement of the tab of each jack in row 2 in a position disposed clockwise from the position of the tab in the next higher jack. The tabs of the jacks in the row 3 on the contrary are in corresponding positions in groups. Thus the tabs in the highest group of four jacks are at the top, the tabs in the group of the next four jacks are at the right, the tabs in the jacks of the next lower group of four jacks are at the bottom, and the tabs in the jacks of the lowermost group of four are at the left, as seen in Figure 3. While the tabs are thus all in 90-degree spaced positions, it will be evident that if a greater number of tab combinations is desired, tabs could be located in positions spaced other than 90 around the jacks. A still larger number of combinations could be provided by using more than one tab on a jack.

The wire connected to the terminal 21 of each jack in row 2 will correspond to the circuit designated by the legend on the indicia unit to be mounted in that jack. When the bulbs 5 have been assembled in such indicia unit the notch 26 in cup 12 of such unit will be located to receive the tab 25 of such jack as shown in Figure 7. With the indicia unit in place energization ofthe circuit will cause current to flow form the jacks to the prongs 9 and to the bulbs through the strips 10 and 11. Such energization of the bulbs 5 will project light from the bulbs through the plastic block 6 to illuminate the indicia on the facing strips 8. When not illuminated these strips will appear blank.

I claim as my invention:

1. An indicia panel comprising a transparent elongated plastic block. bearing elongated indicia on one side thereof and having two light bulb receiving cavities opening at the opposite side thereof and spaced lengthwise of said block, a prong projecting from said block between said light bulb receiving cavities, a retainer strip pivotally mounted on said prong and swingable between a position in registry with said bulb receiving cavities and a position out of registry with said bulb receiving cavities, said retainer strip when in registry with said bulb receiving cavities being simultaneously engageable with light bulbs received in both of such cavities for holding such light bulbs in such cavities, and a jack board operable to receive said prong in a jack thereof for supporting said block from said jack board.

2. The indicia panel defined in claim 1, and spring means carried by the prong, engageable with the retainer strip and operable to press the retainer strip against light bulbs in the block cavities when such strip is in registry with such cavities.

3. An indicia panel comprising a plurality of elongated transparent plastic blocks each having a plurality of light bulb receiving cavities opening at one side and spaced lengthwise thereof and its other side bearing elongated indicia adapted to be illuminated by light from light bulbs received in such cavities, two prongs projecting form the side of said block at which said cavities open, one prong being disposed between said cavities and the other prong being disposed between a cavity and the adjacent end of the block, a first contact strip connected to the end prong and incorporating loops in registry with said cavities and engageable with the bases of light bulbs received respectively in said cavities, a second contact strip pivotally mounted on said prong located between said bulb receiving cavities and swingable between a position in registry with said bulb receiving cavities for engaging light bulbs received therein and a position swung out of registry with said cavities, and a jack board carrying jacks operable to receive said prongs of said block for supporting said block from said jack board.

4. The indicia panel defined in claim 3, in which the jack board has a plurality of pairs of jacks and correlating means interengageable between the prongs of a selected block and the jacks of a selected pair to enable said prongs to be received in such jacks of a particular pair, said correlating means for each block being different from the correlating means for each other block and operable to prevent the prongs of a particular block from being received fully in any other pair of jacks on the jack board.

5. An indicia block comprising a body having a plurality of light bulb receiving sockets spaced apart at one side thereof and indicia at the opposite side thereof for illumination by light bulbs received in said sockets, a prong projecting from said body between said light bulb receiving sockets, and a contact strip pivotally mounted on said body and swingable between a position in registry with said sockets for engaging light bulbs received therein and a position swung out of registry with said sockets.

6. An indicia panel comprising a plurality of blocks,

a light bulb carried by each block, each block bearing indicia adapted to be illuminated by light from such lights bulb carried by its block, an electric terminal board adapted to support said blocks, and correlating notch means and tab means interengageable between each of said blocks and said electric terminal board when such block is supported from said board, one of said means being carried by its block and the other of said means for each block being carried by said electric terminal board, the means carried by each block being different from the means carried by each other block, and the means carried by said electric terminal board for engagement by the means of each block being difierent from each other means carried by said electric terminal board for engagement by the means of each other block and operable to prevent supporting any block at more than one location on said electric terminal board.

7. An indicia panel comprising a plurality of blocks, a light bulb carried by each block, each block bearing indicia adapted to be illuminated by light from such light bulb carried by its block, an electric terminal board adapted to support said blocks, and prong and jack means intereng ageable between each of said blocks and said electric terminal board for supporting such blocks from said board, each of said prong and jack means having interengageable correlating means including a notch correlating element and a tab correlating element, one of said correlating elements being on a prong and the other element being on the corresponding jack for such prong of one of said blocks, such correlating elements being offset from the center of that prong and jack means, the locations of the prong correlating elements circumferentially of the prongs being different for diiferent blocks, and the jack correlating elements being located in positions circumferentially of the jacks corresponding to the circumferential locations of the respective prong correlating elements engageable therewith for preventing en gagement of prong and jack means to support any block at more than one location on said electric terminal board.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 18,193 Kollath Sept. 15, 1931 1,203,582 Chase Nov. 7, 1916 2,433,917 McCartney Jan. 6, 1948 2,655,639 Benander et a1. Oct. 13, 1953 2,703,398 Harrington et a1. Mar. 1, 1955 2,740,957 Davies Apr. 3, 1956 2,764,751 Gnadke Sept. 25, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 71,058 Norway Sept. 30, 1946 533,681 Great Britain Feb. 18, 1941 106,197 Australia Dec. 16, 1938 

